It has been getting cooler lately and thus my mind began to think of warm, comforting foods that would be good to make. One of my obvious choices was chili, a food that I could also call ‘et cetera’ for the way I cook it.I like to add beans to my chili to make it more nutritious and more filling. Hey, meat is expensive here in Japan and beans are a great way to extend this dish.I also like to add various levels of umami to chili. This includes mushrooms, Vegemite, fish sauce, anchovies, and soy sauce. Because many of these umami foods are salty, I’m careful when I’m adding them so that the resulting chili isn’t too salty.I cooked this up last night and my frequent tastings satisfied my tummy last night as I knew we would be eating it tonight. My tummy is very childish and always wants to taste things whilst we are cooking.I did other cooking this afternoon knowing that the chili was made and only needed re-heating. This took the stress out of an otherwise long shift in the kitchen preparing food that wasn’t for tonight’s dinner.When it was time to eat, we almost had a coin toss about which food to eat. In the end we went with the chili because that was the original plan. We weren’t disappointed. It was good and comforting.There have been a few memorable chilis in my lift, and while tonight wasn’t one for me, it may be for my children. I don’t know which meals will be memorable for anyone, but when you have good food and good company and the atmosphere is pleasant, it can’t be anything but memorable.May your house be chili as well.